Running Away from the Rules You Can't Follow
by Veridissima
Summary: Captain Jeyne Heddle leads a small ship, followed by her loyal crew, when they get a call for help from the neighboring planet of Braavos. Fill for Gendrya Appreciation Week 2020


_Hi, everyone! I'm finally back with some Gendrya and can you believe our ship actually became canon last year! It was beautiful!_

_I'm now back with something short for Gendrya Appreciation Week 2020, trying to make up for skipping Gendrya Week last summer for the first time in years, so this fills the prompt for Day 5, "Outlaws" :)_

_Also while this is not a fusion fic or anything, I have been watching a lot of Star Trek for the first time ever, so some things slipped in ;)_

_Enjoy this! And please, go easy on me, it was weird and hard to try and find their voices again... But I really I hope you all like it and that it doesn't take me as long again to be back :D_

* * *

"Captain," Willow called from behind her. "Someone is hailing for help close by."

"Track the signal, Gendry," Jeyne ordered.

"It's coming from Braavos," he informed them as he read the screen. "That's in Essos."

"I know that, Gendry," Jeyne said. "What would the consequences be if we went in?"

"Captain, this is out of our jurisdiction," Gendry argued.

"We have no jurisdiction."

"Captain, as Gendry pointed out it's Essos," Willow spoke, but before she threw her support at Gendry, she continued. "But Braavos is also one of the Free Planets, so we should be okay going in."

"We'll be attacked, they don't take kindly to members of the Westeros Union."

"In case you forgot, Gendry, the Union doesn't take that kindly to us either, we're outlaws. And we don't say no to a call for help."

"Jeyne, come on, you can't."

"Gendry, I won't say this twice, we're going in, so prepare to approach the planet and make the cross into Essos territory."

"Captain, I'm sorry."

"Gendry, do as told, and then please go tell HP, Lommy and the children that we're going to go to the ground."

It was obvious for everyone in the room, that Gendry wanted to argue with Jeyne's decision, but she was the Captain, and Gendry was too well trained in the rules to argue with a superior officer.

"Willow, how dangerous it is down there?"

"Nothing I can't handle, Captain. I didn't make security in a fluke, sister."

"You're sure?"

"We don't bring the ship down, no need putting the children in danger."

"I knew that, Willow, we're beaming now, I just wanted to make sure this was the right decision."

"We don't leave anyone behind," Willow said, and she wasn't lying. That had been the reason for them to put this crew together, to steal a ship for themselves, and even if it was a small one, they were outlaws now.

Stealing a ship hadn't been hard. Willow had been part of Dragonfleet, just like Gendry, they had gone through the Academy at different times, but had served under Captain Edmure Tully together, before he was named as traitor.

Captain Edmure Tully had been a good man. He had joked about back home with Willow when he discovered she was also from the Riverlands planet, even if they hadn't grown up anywhere close to one another. And he had a good heart, that was what inspired this mission, he took refuges everywhere, mainly children and women, but then he left Dragonfleet, later named a traitor.

The Captain that took over their ship did not have the same ideals, he did not care about others, and that didn't fit well with Gendry, who had been a Crownland orphan, taken core, until they turned fourteen and got to choose, the streets or joining the Dragonfleet like he did.

Jeyne had heard all of this from Willow when she came home for two weeks, and a plan formed from there. Willow got Gendry on board, his dream had always been to be part of something good, even if sometimes he didn't trust the goon in people too easily.

Jeyne who had run an inn back in their home planet, recruited Hot Pie, their cook, and his friend and usual at the inn, Lommy, an ex-med student, that had quit at some point through his studies to dedicate himself to chemistry – he had said yes to travelling space easily, but HP had been harder to convince, but here he was.

Now they were both trusted to hold the ship, while the rest of them went down to the ground, changed from their normal clothes, Jeyne's red shirt would drew too much attention, and armed themselves, Willow with more weapons than anyone could count, they made their way to the transporter room.

Gendry was there, holding Weasel in his arms, as she argued, silently, to go with him, like she did every time. She was one of the children they had first saved, but also one they never found any living family or place to safely take her.

"Gendry has to come with us, Weasel," Jeyne said, taking her from his arms, and putting her on the floor. "Think you can help us?"

She nodded her head, having done this before, and Jeyne left her with a kiss on her head, and joined them on the transporter and with a nod to her sister and Gendry, she spoke.

"Energize."

* * *

This was her last chance.

Arya knew it was, as she looked at her ship signaling to space for a rescue, probably a futile chance.

Her head rested against the back of her chair, and she felt a calm overtake her, she hadn't been here for so long, and this ship reminded her of home too much. It had been Jon's, a birthday present from Dad when he turned sixteen, that he had named Ghost II, and then Arya stole it when she had to run from home (she didn't think Jon would mind).

She had been in the ship for two years, before landing in Braavos, and never took out the things that belonged to Jon – some of his old clothes in the back, the ones he left behind before joining Dragonfleet, but also his preferred weapons (ones Arya was now proficient on) and photos of their family.

But her things were scattered around the ship as well, from the various planets she visited in the Westeros nation, before the search for her – supposedly the Last Stark – tightened and she had nowhere else to go but East.

That's how she ended up in Braavos, one of the Free countries, here she was anonymous, finally safe, even as she found herself training to kill, which she should have known it would end badly._ How many people can you kill before you also get stabbed?_

Arya felt herself slipping away. Slipping away far from home, from her family… because as Dad had once told her and her siblings often enough – _the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives_.

* * *

Braavos was unlike anything Gendry had ever seen. He had grown up in the capital, one of the most diverse places in the Union, but it was nothing like here, there were many more species, some he had never seen, and he could walk around with no suspicious looks at the horns on top of his head that clashed against his mostly human appearance.

"Come on, Gendry, we're staying behind," Jeyne called, grabbing his hand, looking ahead at Willow, quite a few steps in front of them. "They could be in immediate danger. We need to hurry."

"What if it's a trap?" he asked her. He still didn't trust the sign. It wasn't that he didn't want to trust them, he just didn't know if he could.

"If it is, we'll handle it then," she answered, still moving. "But I don't think we're such immediate priority in their searches for someone to come up with something so elaborate to capture us."

Gendry tended to agree with that, they were small fish to hunt, but he still wasn't sure about this call, unlike most places they went to, this wasn't riddled with war and sadness, so in what way could this person really need help.

"How close are we, Willow?" Jeyne asked as she continued to push Gendry along.

"We need to get out of the city first," she answered. "Move fast. Don't stop walking. He can't be stopped until we get out of here."

Willow was focused on her walk, but he got more easily distracted with people, offering him food or trying to sell him something, same with Jeyne, who led him by the hand, until they were finally out of there.

The noise of the town and the markets was behind them, and now people were scarce, they could still find houses, but not many, mostly empty, but Gendry had also noticed some coming to the window to see them, but nobody intervened or stopped them.

"We're close," Willow said. "We should be able to see something already."

"What is the system reading?" Gendry asked, stepping closer, towering over her to look at her small screen. If the reading was right, this was a ship signal, and no matter how small it was, it should be visible from here.

Willow handed him the controls, and he quickly checked it over, and it seemed to be working alright to him. It was moving as he moved, and the signal was still beeping strong.

"What if it's underground?" Jeyne suggested. "If they had to hide the ship, going underground could have been the way."

"Yes," Willow agreed. "Find an entrance. There should be something around here."

Jeyne knelt down, her hand on the ground, and her eyes closed, feeling what was under her. Gendry had known of her abilities that came with being a full-blooded Grounder Riverlander, but it was always a sight to see, the rocks and small particles of dirt and sand raising a few inches from the floor.

"There's space down there. This is not solid ground. Find an entrance," she spoke with her Captain voice, and they each went their way, looking to see if there was a way to go underground.

Gendry went back, to see if they had missed something, but he guessed he looked suspicious spying as he was, as more and more people came to their windows, to see what he was doing.

"Here!" Willow yelled before someone else came outside to ask him what he was doing. Willow moved the rocks away from the door easily, whoever had been her father had been a species with super strength (but it was hard to tell when she physically only looked like a Grounder Riverlander).

"Gendry, come help," she said, passing him some smaller rocks, before sliding in, ignoring that he was much bigger than her or Jeyne. So he ended up being a few minutes behind them, as he moved up some more space for him to pass.

"Took you long enough."

"Willow, you left me stuck up there!"

"No arguing," Jeyne spoke. "We need your lights." Gendry got a flashlight from his things and turned it on, lighting the entire place, it seemed to be some kind of old storage place, now mostly empty.

Mostly empty.

A ship, like the ones Gendry had seen when he was young, working on the mechanical shop when they got an odd ship from a rich businessman. It was a private ship – small, but had the look to have gone through a lot.

"It's a stolen ship," Gendry spoke.

"How do you know?"

"It's a rich person's ship. Westerosian too, no way it ended up here if it wasn't stolen."

"We don't know that, Gendry."

"We need to go help then," Jeyne spoke. "I'll make first contact as Captain."

Jeyne was brave as she walked ahead and knocked on the door of the ship, but it didn't open, and no noise came.

"Willow, pull the door opened."

"Are you sure?"

"Do it." And so Willow did it, and there it was for the three of them to find, a girl bleeding out on the pilot chair.

Jeyne and Willow ran to her, while Gendry stood back and looked around. The girl was about the same size as Willow, maybe the same age or even younger (after all Willow was small for her age).

"We need to make it back to the ship. Contact them," Jeyne said, as she came closer.

"Mom…" the girl whispered, reaching for Jeyne.

"I'm Jeyne, I'm the Captain of a ship, we call it the Crossroads. These are Willow and Gendry, two of my officers."

"Mom…"

"We can take you with us and heal you. We have a doctor on board."

"Gendry, tell them to beam us up," Willow spoke, sensing her sister's instructions.

"Not yet…" the girl whispered, reaching for their hands.

"You're bleeding out."

"My ship…"

"We can't take it."

"My brother's… Needle…"

Gendry noticed her arm raising just a little bit, and his eyes followed her hand, and he moved there, looking at the miscellaneous of objects before reaching for the sword, and asking the girl if it was this, to what she nodded.

"Ready to go then?" Jeyne asked, as Gendry continued to look, and pickpocketed what seemed to be a family photo on the shelf – he didn't know if anything else would matter to her, or if this photo was even hers… but he had a feeling.

"Gendry," Jeyne called out, with a voice that indicated that it wasn't her first time calling for him. "Gendry, you can tell them to beam us up."

Gendry touched his system, opening communication with the ship, Lommy already on the transporter room.

"Four to the ship. Beam us up." And with that, the four of them disappeared from this old and beaten up ship, to the Crossroads.

* * *

She didn't know what was happening. The ceiling above her was white and she didn't feel her normal clothes, nothing felt familiar and her mind took a bit to catch up with what was happening.

Then she remembered. She had signaled for help, and someone had come to get her. Two ladies and a man. The ladies were from the Riverlands like her mom, but from the Ground region, not the Water section like Mom. The guy had horns, like Uncle Robert.

Uncle Robert. Captain Baratheon. This was a Dragonfleet ship. Fuck._ No, the help couldn't be Dragonfleet._ Arya pulled the cables from her arm and sat up, reaching for where she had been stabbed, feeling only a healing scar, and finished getting up, dressed in a gown she ventured outside.

For a Dragonfleet ship, the lack of security was strange, as was the emptiness of it. There was definitely something weird here. Arya moved quietly through the ship, all her senses sparked awake, getting used to having her vision again.

She could smell food in the air, and moved in the opposite direction, not wanting to face people just yet, and she realized quickly the ship was rather small as well, so she was destined to find someone.

A door opened next to her as she walked by the corridor.

"I was warned you had left medical, and I've been seeing what you've been doing," he said looking at the cameras.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"You're aboard the Crossroads, I'm Gendry."

"Crossroads? I haven't heard about it."

"You wouldn't. We don't particularly want people to know about us."

"Who are you? You're not Dragonfleet?"

"We are not. I used to be."

"What is this ship?"

"We help people in need. Take them in, take them to safety, and do it all over again. Normally children."

"I'm not a child."

"I didn't really vote in favor of saving you."

"Why not?"

"I don't want the Union to come for me."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked. _Could he know who she was?_

"This is a Union ship. While not one of their Dragonfleet ships, I don't think they would be too nice to the person who stole it."

"So you didn't trust me?" He didn't answer that, and the response was clear. "So why tell me all of this?"

"Orders from the Captain."

"Ohh…" she sighted, before changing the subject. "Where's everyone else?"

"You'll meet them later. There's only two other people, besides Jeyne and Willow, who you've met. And the children…"

"I mean here?"

"It's just me. I handle engineering."

"Alone?"

"Were you mistaken to think this was a big ship," he answered sarcastically, and turned his back to her.

Arya knew she could leave at this, but instead she took one of the chairs and sat down, as her eyes looked across the room. It was much smaller than she expected, she had only seen another Engine Room before, the one Dad had worked on during the war, and that had been much bigger and busy looking.

"Where are we going?" she asked, finally noticing they were on route somewhere.

"Where we need to be."

"I need to know where we're going," she argued, standing again.

"I can't disclose that information."

"Didn't you say you took people to safety?" Arya asked again as she started to pace, she needed to know.

"Stop," he said to her face, as he held her shoulders. "We're not going into Union territory for awhile."

"You aren't?"

"We aren't, Arya."

"Thank you," she said, before shaking his hands off her, and stepping a bit back, realizing how close they were, before sitting back down and getting back to work.

"Wait, you said my name?"

"Yes. I was asked to do research on who you were," he told her, before handing her a picture. "I found this on the ship."

Arya looked down at the picture then, feeling a warmth on her heart.

"I'm Arya Stark," she whispered it was the first time she was able to say her name in years. "And I want to get back to my family."

"We can get you into the Union."

"The Northern planet. Home. I've flown through the Neck before, I know how to pass the asteroids. I can help."

"We will get you there."

"My name is on the lists. I'm still being searched for, even if most take me for dead."

"We aren't much adored by the Union either, we have our ways to get around."

"Thank you," she answered honestly. Going home was all she wanted since she heard the Starks were back in Winterfell, she tried. She tried and got stabbed for trying to leave the House of Black and White. But now she could go home.

"You'll get me home," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else, so she was surprised to here his voice again, with a hint of a smile.

"As milady commands."

* * *

_For anyone interested, I've been mostly on ao3 (under the same name as here) for the last year, writing fanfiction for the show, The 100 :) _


End file.
